


While They Sleep

by AuroraRebellion



Category: Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Ken | Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Genre: Gen, Hhh help i dunno how to tag this, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Set during Shadow Dragon prologue, character introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 11:53:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20582063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuroraRebellion/pseuds/AuroraRebellion
Summary: On their way to refuge in Talys, Jagen finds himself the only one awake, and with plenty of time to think.As one of the eldest on the boat, it's starkly clear to him just how young his comrades are.





	While They Sleep

The children are asleep.

They’re not all children, he knows. The only one they all would call a child would be Prince Marth, and Marth has been fourteen for mere days. Yet from the standpoint of a man for whom _ seventy _ is less than five years away, even Marth’s knights are so very young.

Three of them are eighteen, Draug is twenty-one… Norne certainly can’t be much older than that, either. He chooses not to include Malledus either, and Frey- everything tastes like dust in his mouth at the name. It’s not likely Frey’s age matters anymore, save for what would be written on a gravestone.

And he rode away for the sake of his comrades, all too young for this. Even in his sleep, Marth seems tense and uncertain...

Jagen’s mind wanders, as minds are prone to do late at night when everyone else is asleep, and he considers lighter matters- such as Malledus and Norne choosing to sleep in a separate room from the rest. Malledus by nature of his personality, and Norne?

His personal theory is that it was entirely due to Cain’s snoring, and nothing to do with feeling ‘unworthy’ to sleep in the same room as the prince as was her excuse. He can’t say he’d hold honesty against her either, given Cain’s volume in near everything he does.

...It’s equally impressive that Gordin and Draug sleep through it as they do. Everyone else is, for better or worse, quite used to the sound. Or perhaps the whole of them are too tired to care. Gordin stumbled to bed washed up of dirt and half-asleep on his feet, Abel laughed himself near to tears at how ill-fitting the tunic Cain borrowed from Draug was (it’s far too big), and Draug himself stayed up late talking with Norne. All of them seemed exhausted.

Jagen can’t say he isn’t tired himself, though. The days and nights of paranoid vigilance, the irregular hours spent waking or sleeping, and the practically nonexistent bedding he slept on have all culminated in a vague sense of weariness and a subtle yet deep-set ache in near every joint no matter what he’s doing at the moment. Cain continues to make joking comments regarding his age each time Jagen makes mention of the latter condition.

Perhaps Cain doesn’t have much room to pester someone else over such matters (the way he favors his left leg isn’t unnoticed), yet he does it consistently all the same. Abel’s not much better in the way of how many blows he pulls with verbal sparring; he’s a little too sharp-minded for his own good. Not that Jagen minds laughing it all off, of course. He’s quite fond of both of them.

His fondness is what makes this all the harder. He’s glad to see Abel asleep, a still shape wrapped up in blankets, and there was a sense of relief that filled him to see Cain so readily fall back onto his own bed. Gordin, it made him happy to see the young knight have a chance to wash up, and even Draug’s gentle demeanor held telltale signs of wear and fatigue, all too familiar in Jagen's eyes...

It’s good to see them all asleep, to see them resting. If Naga is willing, perhaps they’ll be able to step away from all this strife in their dreams. Shadows lift from all their faces when they aren’t conscious to worry about them.

Or that is- those shadows fade from everyone but _ Marth _. Marth simply looks smaller, less prepared to bear the weight of those conflicts that await him. The darkness sitting beneath his eyes is much more prominent when those eyes are closed. 

If only he could lift that burden somewhat, if only he could somehow smooth away the stress that already seems to mar so young a face.

As it is, all he can do is brush blue hair away from a tired brow, and run his fingers through that same hair until he’s satisfied with the lack of tension in Marth’s shoulders. The deep sigh the prince lets out in his sleep is another thing Jagen notes with a sense of pride. He may not be able to comfort him so when he’s awake, but if he can stave off those shadows while he’s asleep… his job is well done for the night.

Divines above- they’re all so _ young. _ Marth especially so, yet none of them seem anywhere near prepared for this. There’s so much they’ve yet to learn, so much he has to teach them now- things he’s not certain he can teach them on his own- and he has no idea how much time they have to work towards grasping any of it.

Marth knows little of politics and strategy on a battlefield, not to mention his swordsmanship is only what can be expected of someone who is _ fourteen, _and a fourteen year old has no place in a battle of life and death.

A boy hardly even of age shouldn’t be expected to lead in a war he didn’t start or want to be a part of- but that’s what has happened, and what is happening to him. All Jagen can do- all any of the knights can do- is stand by his side as he fights his way through what has been placed before him. Their own strengths can chip away at the burden, but that burden still rests on small shoulders.

And yes, he trusts they’ll all give everything they have to give, but even there he worries. None of them have quite learned how to function as their own, independent unit on the battlefield, and he fears what might happen if they were forced to be apart without guidance.

Draug is the worst of these, having little sense for strategy other than holding his ground, Gordin just can’t quite hold his own yet in general (some of this is permissible, a lone archer is a rare sight for a reason), and Abel has difficulty stepping back and seeing a larger picture. Not to mention Cain, who won’t hold a formation at all if a moment of impulse sways him to break it.

Cain just might be the worst as a whole of the entire group. Impulsive, rash, _ reckless-- _ he’s only gotten worse, too. He charges off like he isn’t two blows or one mistakenly harsh movement away from reopening a wound, and fights like nothing can hurt him more than he’s already been hurt. Abel has been literally ill with worry on at least one occasion, and no amount of lecturing seems to change him from his ways at all.

He can’t speak for Norne, and Malledus is only suited for tactics meetings and not at all for battle… for a group consisting of eight people altogether, they are a _ notably _mismatched bunch.

He wonders if they'll all grow to work together in time, and offers one of his rare prayers to Naga for that. _They need_ _time_, more than ever, more than near anything else...

If only they’d had it beforehand.

Speaking of time, though- it's late, and he needs to rest in order to be ready for the morning. One old man sitting up late and worrying is hardly useful.

Thus, he finds his place in his own bed (his knees protest _fiercely_ at the movement after standing still for so long), forces his eyes to close, and hopes his thoughts will slow long enough for him to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I'm Towny, and yes I know Three Houses is out but I haven't played it and I'm Archanea trash anyways regardless. The Altean crew were Babies when Dohlr invaded.  
(This was inspired by a bot on Twitter, by the name of @str_voyage! I used one of their tweets as a prompt.)


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